Laser-made lattice reveals discrete light solitons in tunable atomic vapor - Phys.org

Experimental setup: (a) Three-level Λ-scheme of rubidium atoms interacting with coupling and probe laser fields; (b) a glass cell containing rubidium vapor through which the coupling and probe beams propagate; (c) the coupling-laser interference pattern that creates a spatially modulated refractive index; (d) the transverse profile of the probe beam after propagation through the induced lattice. Credit: Vjekoslav Vulić, Institute of Physics Zagreb

Scientists from the Quantum Technologies Group at the Institute of Physics Zagreb, in collaboration with a colleague from the Physics Department at the Faculty of Science (PMF), have experimentally demonstrated for the first time the existence of discrete one-dimensional (1D) solitons in an optically induced photonic lattice in warm rubidium vapor.